


Birthday

by SolosOrca



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-02-06 02:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1840804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolosOrca/pseuds/SolosOrca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryoma lay on his bed, watching Karupin try to catch the cat toy he was waving at him, deep in thought. What were you supposed to buy people for their birthday?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday

Ryoma lay on his bed, watching Karupin try to catch the cat toy he was waving at him, deep in thought. What were you supposed to buy people for their birthday?

He'd only really bought presents for Karupin and he was sure Tezuka wouldn't appreciate cat treats. But, what were you supposed to get your boyfriend for his birthday?

He had no idea what Tezuka had or hadn't read, so books were out of the picture. He could just buy him some sort of generic present, but he wanted to buy something that Tezuka would like.

"What would you get him?" Ryoma asked the cat. Karupin ignored him in favour of leaping up and grabbing the toy in his mouth.

He decided against asking the other regulars for help, he was sure their ideas would range between boring and creepy. Asking his dad was well out of the equation as well. Nanjiro didn't exactly know Ryoma was dating a guy and any suggestions from him would probably involve lacy underwear. Besides, he was now determined to get the gift himself. He was Tezuka's boyfriend, he should know exactly what to get him.

So, the next day, he decided to go shopping, making up an excuse about having to run errands for his mother to get out of burgers with Momo and Eiji. He wandered around the shops, hoping he could find something. He hated going shopping without a clear goal in mind, he could think of nothing worse than walking around aimlessly picking things up and working out if Tezuka would like them.

As he walked down the street he saw a couple crowded around a street stall. A quick look around them showed the stall to be full of sparkly jewellery. For a moment, Ryoma considered stopping and investigating further. That was, until the thought of Tezuka wearing one of the pink, sparkly bracelets floated into his mind and he couldn't help but snigger. The couple turned around and glared at him, looking offended and Ryoma quickly walked away.

His judgement was quickly starting to disappear to be replaced by desperation. He found himself looking at a clothes hanger shaped like a butterfly and was seriously considering it for a minute before he mentally slapped himself and escaped from the shop as fast as possible.

Once back on the street he spotted a sports shop and made a beeline for it. He hadn't realised how stressful being in other shops was. Besides, he needed some new tennis balls. Probably. It would give him some time to think at least.

Tezuka would need some new grip tape soon, Ryoma thought as he looked through the tennis goods. He'd seen the grip on Tezuka's racquet in practice and it was getting pretty worn out… wait...

* * *

It wasn't a big surprise when they found a limo parked outside the school waiting for them after practice, especially when Atobe leaned out the window and told them they were coming to a surprise party for Tezuka at his house. Even Tezuka didn't look all too surprised at this, although he had tried to get out of it.

Ryoma hadn't given Tezuka his present yet. There had been too many people around Tezuka all day and Ryoma felt awkward dragging him away from them. But, this party would be the perfect opportunity. Atobe's parties were always packed, so no one would notice if Ryoma took Tezuka away somewhere a bit more private. (Atobe might notice, but in Ryoma's book anything that made Atobe unhappy was a bonus).

He didn't recognise more than half the people at the party, they were probably all from Hyotei, but a lot of the teams they'd played against in the nationals were there. There seemed to be a noticeable split between the tennis players and the Hyotei students. He was immediately challenged to matches by several people and spent most of the party on the tennis courts, beating regulars from other schools. It was pretty lucky really that Atobe had just grabbed them all out of school, meaning they all had their tennis gear with them. He'd just defeated Fuji's little brother when he saw Tezuka watching them from a balcony.

"I need a drink," he said before grabbing his bag and leaving.

Finding his way through the mansion was harder than he thought it would be, but he only got lost a couple of times before finding the balcony.

"Shouldn't you be with the Monkey King?" He asked as he joined Tezuka watching the doubles match that had broken out on the court. On one side was Fuji's little brother and Shinji from Fudomine, they were facing Aoi from Rokkaku and Hyotei's Jirou.

"Do you want me to be with him?" Tezuka asked.

"No," Ryoma replied, watching Jirou's serve go flying past Yuuta and Shinji. "It's just like you to escape from your own party."

"I think Atobe just wanted an excuse to throw a party."

"Maybe," Ryoma shrugged, knowing that that wasn't the case. He opened his bag and started rummaging in it. "I got you a present," he said, pulling out the neatly wrapped gift (he'd spent hours over the wrapping, making sure it was perfect). It had gotten a bit beaten up over the day in his bag, but still looked presentable. "Happy birthday."

Tezuka took it, "thank you," he said and started to unwrap it. He smiled when he saw what it was and Ryoma felt all warm inside. "As your boyfriend, don't I get to play tennis with you at any time anyway?" he asked, indicating the note attached to the high quality grip tape, saying that Tezuka could use it to challenge Ryoma to any match whenever he pleased.

"You do, but this is in case I say 'no' the first time," Ryoma explained, doubting there would ever be a time when he turned down Tezuka for a match.

"That's good to know."

Below them, an argument had broken out over whether one of Yuuta's shots was out.

"Can I kiss you?" Ryoma asked. He wondered how many other couples asked each other for kisses. It was just easier than leaning in and second guessing each other. This way, both of them knew what the other wanted.

Tezuka nodded and leaned down (Ryoma vowed in his head, one day he would get taller) as Ryoma stood on his toes and they met in the middle. The kiss was chaste and over quite quickly, but was very nice all the same.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Tezuka asked.

"Sure," Ryoma agreed, picking up his bag and making to leave. "You know, I'm sure the street courts will be empty."


End file.
